Westminster residents urge investigation of 'contaminated land'

Westminster City Council (WCC) plans to build 21 homes on a former car park at Torridon House in January, following approval by the then Conservative-led council in 2020. 

The car park was demolished in October last year by contractor Osborne but neighbours said alarm bells rang when nothing subsequently grew on the soil.

An independent study since commissioned by residents found evidence of "dibenzo anthracene, benzo fluoranthene and benzo pyrene" in the soil.

The council said this week said it has been "made aware of the misleading and factually incorrect information being circulated"  and that "there is no risk or danger to residents in the surrounding area".

Torrindon House carpark before it was demolished to make way for housing (Image: Dave Hill)

In February a "land contamination risk assessment" was carried out on behalf of WCC.

Stantec's report said: "The potential for significant contamination to be present on the site is low while the potential for any deleterious material producing hazardous ground gases to be present is very low."

The report said the risk to site workers "will effectively be mitigated" by wearing appropriate protective clothing and "good working practices to prevent prolonged skin contact inhalation and ingestion of soils".

Syvia Dibble, secretary of the Randolf House Residents' Association, said: "We noticed in the spring that nothing was growing on the site.

"We sent more than 30 emails to the council and registered letters asking them to look at it but we never got a reply."

The site is bordered by homes and Naima Jewish Preparatory School in Andover Place.

Last month residents commissioned soil investigators at Enviro Solution to take samples, but with no work permit from the council, they could only dig half a metre down.

"We thought if we asked Westminster to approve the work permits they would block the investigators from coming because they've blocked us all the way," Sylvia said.

In it's report, Enviro said it found "the presence of some contaminants of concern", including dibenzo anthracene, benzo fluoranthene and benzo pyrene in six places.

These substances can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation as well as cancers according to the international standard the Global Harmonized System (GHS).

"These contaminants could potentially present a long-term exposure risk to human health if the site is to be used for residential land use with gardens in the future," Enviro Solution's report said.

"Potentially ground remedial measures would be required to ensure that the site is safe for its intended use and a more detailed investigation and assessment should be completed prior to redevelopment of the site to confirm the requirements."

Westminster City Council denies land in Maida Vale is contaminated despite a report by Enviro Solutions suggesting otherwis (Image: Dave Hill)

The report added that it was "currently unknown if the soil that was sampled was the imported cover soil or the original site soils". 

They added: "A more detailed and deeper intrusive investigation would be required to confirm this."

Dave Hill, chair of the Torrindon House Residents' Association, said on Tuesday: "They've brought all the piling machines and diggers today, as soon as the school went on holiday.

"They (Westminster) said they did a soil sample but won't show us the results even though we showed them ours.

"They should halt this until a proper independent investigation takes place."

Residents at Torrindon House created a banner which Westminster Council says is 'misleading and factually incorrect' (Image: Maggie Rose)

Cllr Matt Noble, lead member for regeneration and climate action at Westminster City Council, denied any claim of danger.

“We have been made aware of the misleading and factually incorrect information being circulated in relation to the affordable housing development at Torridon House," he said.

"We want to reassure everyone that there is no risk or danger to residents in the surrounding area.

“The council carries out extensive safety checks prior to any development being built to make sure the soil, ground and surrounding area where new buildings are constructed is completely safe before works begin. 

"This work was done at Torridon House and clearly identified that materials in the ground were typical of any development of this type and do not pose any risks to residents. 

"The private surveyor who was commissioned independently by residents has also confirmed there is no risk from their findings, stating that the current levels do not indicate any concern off site for local residents."